Joe Biden for county council?

When Joe Biden said that Tuesday wasn’t his last election, the political class assumed it was a nod to potential 2016 ambitions. But the veep subsequently clarified: “Oh, I’m going to go back home and run for county council or something.”

Meet the New Castle County Council, the governing body that, presumably, would be that very next destination for Biden (Biden’s Delaware home is in Wilmington, which is in New Castle County). And they’re here to say they’d welcome Biden with open arms.

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“Do I think he’d win — YES !” Janet Kilpatrick, who represents the County’s 3rd District, told POLITICO. “Should he run for council? Maybe County Council President would be more appropriate.” (The president spot won’t be open until 2016.)

“I think he would be a great councilman,” said John Cartier, who represents the County’s 8th District. “He’s very people oriented and has a great sense of humor.”

“I would welcome the opportunity to run a good, clean race against him on land-use issues, fiscal integrity and transparency in government,” said Robert Weiner, who represents the county’s 2nd District, to the Wilmington News Journal.

It would be a return to form, for Biden, who served on the council from 1970-72.

“We stand with the vice president and are very proud to count him as one of ours,” said Cartier, who said that the gig would be a bit different from his current job in Washington.

“We are a government closely connected to the people we serve and with all the tools that people have through the Internet and social media, they reach out and touch someone on a daily basis,” said Cartier. “That’s the major difference between serving in county government and serving at the national role. You’re a bit more insulated from the public in Washington than you are in county government.”

And Kilpatrick says he’d find the whole gig quite challenging, especially given the burdens as she sees them: “A one-person staff, revenue generators at an all-time low and services that are as basic as flushing a toilet.”